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Imagine that politicians have decided that fuel prices are excessive for U.S. drivers and have passed a law that grants the power to regulate retail fuel prices to the U.S. Department of Energy. How might supply and demand for fuel be affected by fuel prices that are set by the Department of Energy instead of by a free market? Will the amounts of fuel demanded by consumers be met by the quantities supplied by a regulated market? Does a regulated market result in better economic efficiency in production and consumption than a free market?

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Chika Ilonah
Chika IlonahLv10
28 Sep 2019

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Related questions

Supply and Demand in a Regulated Market Imagine that politicians have decided that fuel prices are excessive for U.S. drivers and have passed a law that grants the power to regulate retail fuel prices to the U.S. Department of Energy. Post by Day 3 a 250- to 300-word statement that addresses the following:

How might supply and demand for fuel be affected by fuel prices that are set by the Department of Energy instead of by a free market?

Will the amounts of fuel demanded by consumers be met by the quantities supplied by a regulated market?

Does a regulated market result in better economic efficiency in production and consumption than a free market?

In spite of inflation increasing most prices, the price of solar power declining. Also in contrast to fossil fuels, the cost of generating electricity from solar energy is driven by the infrastructure costs instead of the cost of the natural resource. Therefore the costs and prices are more stable, particularly for large-scale electricity generation.


Historically, solar technologies have had high upfront infrastructure costs but low operating costs. The SunShot program launched in 2011 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeks to make solar energy economically competitive by 2020. To achieve this goal, the cost of solar power will have to be reduced by roughly 75% relative to 2010 prices. The U.S. DOE has reported that cumulative adoption of solar technologies has increased over tenfold since 2008. It is expected that achieving the price reduction set by the SunShot initiative could lead to solar representing 14% of the electricity demand in the U.S. by 2030 and 27% by 2050.


According to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, reported prices of both residential and commercial photovoltaic systems decreased on average from 6% to 12% annually between 1998 and 2014. At the end of 2014, photovoltaic prices ranged from $4.27/W for residential systems with a median installed capacity of 6kW to $2.08/W for utility-scale systems. Costs for utility scale systems are projected to fall $1.00/W to $1.75/W by 2020. It is expected that within the next two decades, the cost of solar technologies will be lower than the costs of conventional fossil fuel electricity technologies. These lower electricity prices can decrease inflation and contribute to increased economic activity and growth.

Interestingly, the deployment of solar technologies continues to increase despite the 2015 plunge in oil prices. Solar was the third most added electricity-generation capacity in 2015, after wind and natural gas. However, the share of solar compared to the total U.S. electricity capacity in 2015 was 2%, while its generation share was only 0.9%. So it remains to be seen if the goal of the SunShot initiative will be met.

1- Deflation decreases the general prices of goods and services and increases purchasing power. How does this differ from the declining price of solar technologies?

2- Currently, most electricity generation in the U.S. is from fossil fuels, including petroleum, coal, and natural gas. In what ways has the 2015 decline in oil prices affected the adoption of solar technologies?

3- Use Internet resources to compare the changes in the prices of renewable energy technologies including wind, solar, and geothermal over the last 5 years. Which of these three technologies has achieved the greatest cost decline during that period?

4- In addition to cost, what are other barriers to the adoption of photovoltaic systems?

1. Other things remaining the same, a left shift in the supply curve will lead to:

A. a decrease in the equilibrium price and the equilibrium quantity.

B. an increase in the equilibrium price and the equilibrium quantity.

C. an increase in the equilibrium price and a decrease in the equilibrium quantity.

D. a decrease in the equilibrium price and an increase in the equilibrium quantity.

2. Two goods are said to be complements when a fall in the price of one good:

A. leads to a fall in the price of the other good.

B. leads to a left shift in the demand for the other good.

C. leads to a right shift in the demand for the other good.

D. doesn't affect the demand for the other good.

3. In a competitive free market:

A. all exchanges take place involuntarily.

B. there is no provision for the protection of property rights.

C. there is only one seller and many buyers.

D. the government does not impose price controls.

4. Which of the following correctly explains the role of economic agents in a free market?

A. Economic agents allocate goods to those buyers who value the goods the most.

B. Economic agents allocate goods to those buyers who need the goods the most.

C. Economic agents set production quotas for sellers in the market.

D. Economic agents set prices according to the production cost of each good.

5. Which of the following was an effect of the price ceiling placed on gasoline in the U.S. in the 1970s?

A. Gas stations ran out of gas as the quantity of gas demanded exceeded the quantity supplied.

B. Car owners started buying luxury cars that were less fuel-efficient as the price of gas was very low.

C. Those who valued gas the most were able to buy gas under the price ceiling.

D. The inventory of unsold gas increased and gas stations incurred losses.

6. Willingness to accept is:

A. the highest price that a producer is willing to receive to sell an extra unit of a good.

B. always higher than the marginal cost of production.

C. always lower than the marginal cost of production.

D. the lowest price that a producer is willing to receive to sell an extra unit of a good.

7. Assume that the economy is in a recession and consumers are expecting a fall in their income levels. This will cause a(n):

A. right shift in the market demand for all goods.

B. left shift in the market demand for all goods.

C. increase in the total quantity demanded of all goods.

D. decrease in the total quantity demanded of all goods.

8. Which of the following factors is expected to cause the demand curve for coffee to shift to the right?

A. A higher personal tax on the income of all consumers

B. An increase in the supply of coffee due to better weather

C. A higher tax on the sale of tea, a substitute for coffee

D. A fall in the manufacturing cost of coffee

9. If the demand and supply curves for a commodity shift to the right and the shift in demand is greater than the shift in supply, then in comparison to the initial equilibrium, the new equilibrium will be characterized by:

A. the same price and quantity.

B. a lower price and quantity.

C. a higher price and a lower quantity.

D. a higher price and quantity.

10. Which of the following statements correctly describes a perfectly competitive market?

A. Haggling and bargaining are commonly observed in a perfectly competitive market.

B. Buyers in a perfectly competitive market pay different prices according to their individual demand.

C. In a perfectly competitive market, individual sellers and buyers can influence the market price.

D.All participants in a perfectly competitive market are price-takers.

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